It was about the goalscorer and the goalkeeper, the future and the past. Benjamin Sesko took to the Old Trafford pitch for the first time, but in a tracksuit top, a few minutes before kick-off, his unveiling coming as a spectator. David de Gea may have played at the ground he long graced for the last time, a pre-season friendly between Manchester United and Fiorentina at least giving him the farewell he was denied when released two years ago.
Perhaps it was United’s transfers in microcosm, the excitement of the expensive arrival, the disappointment of the cheap exit. But Sesko, whose £65m arrival from RB Leipzig was finalised earlier in the morning, was hailed by United director of football Jason Wilcox as a player with the potential to be world-class. And De Gea, at his best, was: United’s four-time player of the year, a man who topped 500 appearances for them and, before the decline of his final few seasons, ranked among the finest goalkeepers in the game. He was presented with a framed montage by his former teammate Bruno Fernandes before the game; there were further cheers when he prevented Harry Maguire from scoring a spectacular long-range goal and he came off to a standing ovation a couple of minutes before the end.
